He turned back, looking at me over his shoulder. The golden runes around his eyes glowed. “It’s a good thing I can see in the dark.”
“Yes, you’re extremely practical.” I sighed, remembering the day he had the runes tattooed on and how he enjoyed sneaking up on me, not even my illusions could protrude through those magical tattoos of his.
Holding my hand, he walked down the winding steps to a platform. He tried the door on the left, but it was locked. He continued down until we got to another platform with a door which was slightly ajar.
No light, and almost impossible to see without a lantern. I gripped his hand, quieting my breathing, wondering if we truly were alone in this strange place. It was common knowledge that crones preferred to live alone and because of their odd nature, most citizens of Saol kept their distance.
The door creaked as Tallis pushed it open.
We walked inside and my eyes tried to adjust to the pitch black around us. Tallis’ golden runes created a soft glow illuminating his face and part of his upper body. I couldn’t see a thing.
Something scurried by my ankle, and I screamed.
Tallis swung around and I jumped into his arms.
“Moira,” he said, using my real name.
I gripped him as if the creature that just brushed me was death itself. “Something touched my leg.”
“It’s probably a rat,” he groaned as I squeezed my arms around his neck. “You can let go now.”
“No, thank you. I’m perfectly fine right here.”
With another groan, he gripped my waist, not arguing as I held on to him as if we were drowning. “There’s nothing in here. It’s just an old storage room.”
“Can we go back upstairs now? I’ve managed to go through my entire life without being bitten by rats and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t until we left the room that I finally released my hold. I followed him back up the stairs until we were in the lab that at least had enough moonlight so I could see if there were any creatures scurrying around the floor.
Queen of the fae and it was rodents I couldn’t handle.
Tallis walked around picking up random contraptions, looking around the shelves. “There’s a chest back here,” he said.
I turned around in the chair as he opened the old chest.
“Just blankets,” he said.
“Why would a crone need a blanket?” I asked. The crones were a strange race. The stories say they were once witches that had morphed into bird-like creatures due to the high level of elemental magic they consumed. Most magi towers in Saol had a crone. The crone’s job was to watch and report on the magic in the land and report any anomalies back to the Magi Council, but this tower must have been in the land of the twisted which the council had forsaken long ago.
The twisted were a race consisting of creatures half-dead, who drank blood, and other despicable things. They were a part of this world, but as the Rift to the Never grew more shadow monsters invaded our world and the twisted had become darker, more insidious. There were more killings around their borders. More humans being turned to vampyres.
I wondered who had been in this tower and why they had left blankets. Tallis handed one of the wool blankets to me and then moved over to the wall that was free of shelves and sat on the ground, leaning against it.
“You should probably get some sleep,” he said, resting his head back. His dirty blond hair was undone and covered the right side of his face.
Here? He’s got to be kidding me.
I wrapped the blanket around myself, but the chair was extremely uncomfortable and there was no way I was going to sleep in it. I stood and walked over to Tallis, who rested his head back against the wall, eyes closed.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all,” he said, without opening his eyes.
I sat next to him, taking the blanket and draping it across both our legs and then leaned against his shoulder. We rested there and, in the silence, I replayed my daughter’s funeral and what I had done. Being queen was not without loss, and I had killed before, but it had always been in defense of someone or something, never out of anger like I did with Bianca. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have used my power to immobilize her.
The ache of losing three of my children cracked me open. The wave came crashing over me, drowning my need to breathe. It was as if the moment I stopped moving, the grief slammed into me, reminding me that my life was forever changed. Tallis lifted his arm and wrapped it around me as I sobbed into his chest. There were no words or condolences said. He leaned his head against mine, holding me as all the emotions flooded in.
